DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION - SPARC

DIVERSITY,

EQUITY, AND

INCLUSION

LEARNINGS & NEXT STEPS

AN OPENCON REPORT ON

CONFERENCE PLANNING

VERSION 1 - RELEASED JULY 10, 2017

Subject to a Creative Commons

Attribution 4.0 International License

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A Project of SPARC

OPENCON

How can organizers design a conference that takes

OpenCon is a platform for creating, empowering, and

these and other factors into account? How can we all

connecting the next generation of leaders to advance

be more thoughtful about barriers that could prevent

Open Access, Open Education and Open Data¡ªacross

people from participating? How do we design an event

disciplines, and in every corner of the globe. OpenCon¡¯s

that minimizes those barriers¡ªone that people from

initiatives include an annual flagship global conference,

a diversity of contexts and experiences can participate

satellite events organized by volunteer hosts around

in? This requires attention at every stage of planning a

the world, and an ongoing online community. Each

conference¡ªwhich we try to cover in this report.

year, OpenCon¡¯s global conference convenes promising

students and early career academic professionals from

The report goes over decisions around what kind of ven-

around the world interested in opening research and ed-

ue you are choosing, how to minimize financial barriers,

ucation. OpenCon is a project of SPARC (the Scholarly

how to ensure that voices which are often neglected in

Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) and its

mainstream conversations are heard and centered, and

student program, the Right to Research Coalition.

more, based both on lessons learned from planning

OpenCon over the years, as well as external resources on

accessible event planning.

WHY BUILD DIVERISTY,

EQUITY & INCLUSION INTO

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND

CONFERENCES?

INCLUSION 101

People come from different contexts and circumstances.

DIVERSITY

This means that on a structural level, some individuals

Diversity refers to having a range of people across

will consistently have fewer barriers preventing them

gender identities, racial backgrounds, geographic

from participating and speaking at events like confer-

locations, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, ability,

ences¡ªand some individuals will have significantly

sexual orientation, and other characteristics represent-

more. These systemic barriers are often a function of

ed and participating in a space, event, or community.

geographical and racial background, class, gender, and

Although diversity has a lot to do with who¡¯s in the

ability. The barriers themselves could be financial, physi-

(sometimes metaphorical) room¡ªit¡¯s more than that. A

cal, geographical, or social.

diverse community also considers whether people from

a wide range of backgrounds can meaningfully engage

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at all levels of the community. This means diversity also has

In the Equality vs. Equity image, the fence represents a

to do with whose perspectives are being heard, who gets to

systemic barrier. An equality-based solution would treat

make decisions, and more.

everyone the same, despite the fact that the people in the

image are clearly different and need different degrees of

EQUITY

support to overcome the barrier. An equity-based solution

Equity is another word for fairness. Equity is an approach

recognizes these differences and provides an appropriate

that recognizes that the magnitude of systemic barriers posed

degree of support to each person based off what they need.

to a particular person will vary based on their gender identity, race, geographic location, class, age, ability, sexual orien-

INCLUSION

tation and other factors. Equity recognizes that different people

Inclusion takes diversity one step further. When we

will need different amounts of resources or support in order to

talk about diversity, we are talking about having a wide

succeed and overcome these barriers. It is important to note

range of voices and perspectives present and participat-

that equity is different than equality, because equality-based

ing. When we talk about inclusivity, we are talking about

approaches assume that everyone should be treated the same.

communities, spaces, events, or solutions that are designed

Unlike equity, equality ignores the fact that different people

to be for people from a wide range of backgrounds. This

begin with different resources and barriers, and therefore will

means a space can be diverse, but not inclusive; you can

need more or less support as a result.

have people from different backgrounds at an event, but

do they feel welcome? Are you forcing them to adapt to

a space that isn¡¯t built for them? Designing an inclusive

event translates to everything from physical space (are

people using wheelchairs able to enter the venue you¡¯ve

chosen?) to workshop content (do your workshop materials assume that all participants will be coming from a

similar social, cultural, or racial context?)

Equality vs. Equity - Interaction Institute for Social Change &

Angus Maguir: / .

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DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND

THE REPORT

INCLUSION AT OPENCON

Alhough OpenCon participants come from diverse geographical locations, over the years we have learned that

Central to advancing Open Access, Open Education,

inclusion means more than simply having diverse repre-

and Open Data is the belief that information should be

sentation in the room. Both as a conference and global

shared in an equitable and accessible way. It is import-

community, we continue to work on making OpenCon

ant to us that OpenCon reflects these values both in our

a more inclusive space. We are constantly learning. This

communities and in the design of our conference. We

report was created to:

recognize that although the Open movements are global

?

in nature, privileged voices¡ªthose from higher income

Keep OpenCon transparent and accountable to our

commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion

countries, wealthy institutions, and those who experience

?

systemic advantages based on factors such as (but not

Share our learnings as conference organizers and

encourage others to organize events that center on

limited to) race, gender identity, class, and ability¡ªare

diversity, equity, and inclusion

typically prioritized in conferences. Openness in research

?

and education often embraces rhetoric around breaking

Encourage iteration and feedback from the broader

community

down barriers to access¡ªbut how can we practice this in

our work and gatherings? How can we minimize barriers

Although we encourage this report to be used as a re-

to access not only to academic materials, but also to par-

source for other organizers, we understand that many of

ticipation in our own communities and conversations?

the practices and accessibility requirements we mention:

(1) are not exhaustive, (2) may not be possible depend-

To create an environment that minimizes replicating

ing on the infrastructure or financial resources available

power structures that exist in society, OpenCon does its

to organizers, and (3) may not be appropriate in all geo-

best to design a meeting that:

graphical and cultural contexts (the authors of the report

(1) is accessible and inclusive,

are Northern American and European). In this way, the

(2) meaningfully engages diverse perspectives,

report is not meant to be a set of firm rules. Rather, we

(3) centers conversations around equity.

hope it will help organizers to be more thoughtful about

integrating these values at every step of the conference

planning process within their resources and means.

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WHAT¡¯S IN THIS REPORT?

Lessons Learned on Planning an Inclusive Conference

6

We outline practices we have incorporated into our conference planning

so far, as well as areas that we will improve in the future.

Conference Checklist

28

Drawing both from our own practices and public resources on inclusive

and accessible event planning, we have created a standard checklist of

actions conference organizers can take when planning events, workshops

, and conferences.

OpenCon Self Assessment: 2014¨C2016 33

We share figures illustrating OpenCon¡¯s global conference demographics

from 2014 to 2016, indicating areas of improvement over our three-year

history and areas that still need work.

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